


What Happened to Nugget?

by coruscantspark



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 05:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30050733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coruscantspark/pseuds/coruscantspark
Summary: A series of alternative good things that could possibly be what happened to our good boy.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 28





	1. Nugget Goes to the Feywild

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts submitted on tumblr, if you know what happened to Nugget, drop your prompt at criticalcoruscant :)
> 
> @/ayzenigma says: i like to think that nugget is just chilling in the feywild visiting some distant fey relations :D

Nugget had been running around the neighborhood playing with the neighborhood kids and pets that were out and about that afternoon. His person didn’t want him cooped up at home all day and the shared backyard was so fun to play in and all the kids watched out for each other’s pets. All the pets watched out for their kids, too. 

Nugget had plopped down, resting his head on his paws, panting. Kids were fun, but there’s only so many horsey rides one blink dog can do in a day! He watches protectively to make sure none of the little ones running around get underfoot of the larger kids and that no carriages come recklessly down the road with no care for the safety of his neighborhood. Eventually, the kids and other pets start calling goodbyes to each other as dinner is called and they separate into their individual doors. 

Nugget stands up and starts sniffing around. His people hadn’t called him in yet so he does a lap around the yard, making sure no one is hiding or lost. He turns and heads back to his door to wait for his kid to come get him when he notices a strange looking man with red hair leaning against the doorway, sipping a drink out of a coconut. Suspicious, he creeps closer before blinking and appearing right next to him. The man startles and chokes on his beverage before clutching his chest and laughing. 

Leaning down, the man extends a slender hand for Nugget to sniff at. In a lilting voice he says, “I am a friend of Jester’s and she’s trying very hard to keep a lot of people safe and I can’t intervene in that.” Nugget nudges his nose into the man’s hand excitedly, recognizing Jester’s name. The man laughs again and scritches Nugget’s ears. “However, I can make sure you stay safe and get a nice vacation out of it too. Have fun!”

In a flash, Nugget is no longer at Home, but in a field of wildflowers. He spins around and sees a pack of other dogs a ways off. He barks and blinks towards them. They come running and blinking at him too and they meet in the middle in a pile of puppy barking and wrestling, blinking in and out of existence happily. 

They play for what seems like hours before they collapse in a pile of tired dogs and take a nap. Just as Nugget closes his eyes, his ears prick up to hear the laughter of the strange man before sleep finally takes him.


	2. Nugget Goes Sailing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @/ndanddnd says: I Know what happened to Nugget!!  
> Nugget has stolen away on one of the merchant ships sailing along the coast, he has charmed the crew and has a steady supply of belly rubs and peg legs to chew on.  
> Hope you have a good day. :)

Nugget expertly weaves in and out of people’s legs, blinking in and out when the crush of people gets to be too tight. He reaches the Restless Wharf and picks up his pace. The smell he’d been chasing is getting stronger and he drools a little more, hoping to get a taste. He comes up to a crate that smells exactly like what he’s chasing after and he sniffs around it, hoping to find a weak point. Stretching up he noses at the lid but it’s securely shut He tries to push at it a few times but it doesn’t work. Huffing, he circles the crate again and blinks inside of it. Happily half-buried in bags of dried meats, Nugget chews his way to a full tummy and eventually falls asleep. 

When he wakes up, it’s to a gentle rocking. He sleepily blinks, confused about his surroundings before smelling the dried meat he’s sleeping on top of. Tail thumping happily against the sides of the crate, he digs snout first back into the jerky when he is startling by the ringing of a bell. He instinctively blinks out of existence before reappearing...on the deck of a ship? Nugget freezes with a mouthful of jerky in his mouth, staring at the sailor carrying a bag over his shoulder that’s staring at him. 

Nugget runs.

“Cap’n!” The sailor drops the bag and chases after him. “CAPTAIN!!!”

Two more sailors join the chase as Nugget sprints across the deck, blinking out of the way when a set of hands got close enough to catch him. Eventually after many circles and a merry chase all around the deck, he runs out of steam and allows himself to be caught by one of the folks chasing him, panting heavily. 

The blond sailor scoops him up and cradles him gingerly, expecting him to disappear again.

The heavy footsteps of the tortle captain step up and the captain peers at him with his good eye. “N-n-n-n-now where did you….come from, l-l-l-little one?”

Nugget keeps panting, tongue lolling out one side before licking the captain’s face. The tortle bursts into laughter and pats the dog on his head. 

“Mmmm, you’ll do, dog. You’ll do.”

Nugget nuzzles into the hand and woofs. The other deckhands gather around giving scritches and receiving kisses in return, Nugget soaking up all the attention, blinking out of the sailor’s arms and onto the deck and rolling onto his back. One of the crew mates brings a bandana out of storage and ties it around Nuggets neck.

Nugget spends the next few weeks happily trotting along beside whoever’s on deck and snuggling with a new sailor each night.


	3. Nugget Gets Adopted. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @/ oxymoronwithanidea says: For the “I know what happened to Nugget”:   
> -Astrid & Eadwulf found Nugget and are now taking care of him secretly, along with an obstinate owl they found a while ago

Astrid and Eadwulf materialize inside of the living room they’d been scrying on. They look at each other for a moment before examining the room. Halfling sized furniture, as expected. Astrid flips through some papers on the desk, intrigued by the alchemical hypothesis scribbled on them and pockets them to go through later. In the kitchen, she sees many drawings affixed to the walls, obviously done by a child. She runs a finger over them, mind wandering a bit before turning away and moving to one of the bedrooms. Poking her head in, she can tell it’s an adult’s bedroom, even if the furniture is smaller. She checks under the bed, opens drawers at random, twisting knobs, checking behind wall art until one of the knobs triggers a hidden drawer to open. Inside is a painting of a halfling family, the woman very familiar. Under the painting is a ring and a potion vial and a couple of bags. She pockets the vial and picks up the bags. To her surprise they are filled with gold. Deliberating only a moment, she pockets those as well. 

_ Depending on how the night goes, this gold may be the difference between life and death. Call it payment for how much stalling we’re doing. _

She does another scan of the room and seeing nothing else of import, she goes to find what is taking Wulf so long. Stalling or not, he doesn’t normally take this long. She walks into the other room to find him laughing quietly at the antics of a dog blinking in and out of existence and groans.

“No.”

He looks up at her with puppy eyes. “But look at him, he’s precious and alone.”

“Wulf.

“He’s left behind! We gotta help him!”

“Wulf we can’t keep doing this.”

“You got to keep the owl.”

Her eyes narrow and she purses her lips. “An owl is less needy than a blink dog, Eadwulf.”

“But look at his face!”

Astrid tries not to. She really does. But her eyes betray her and she looks into the big sad eyes of the dog staring at her. He presses his nose into her hand and she melts a little bit, giving his ear a scritch.

“Fine. He stays at your place though.”

“Yes!”


	4. Nugget Joins the Chateau Staff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @/iituska says: What happened to nugget? Nugget attacked the first assembly mage he saw and then blinked away and is now safe with carlos somewhere in nicodranas

Nugget was sure something was wrong. His people hadn’t come back home for a long time and the pounding at the door didn’t smell like them. He growls low in his throat and stands ready to pounce on whoever opens that door.

The Volstrucker bursts into the room and Nugget pounces, knocking them over and as they scream. He blinks away and begins running and blinking towards Other Home. The Lavish Chateau comes into view and he slows down, panting and looking for a familiar face.

Carlos was not having a good day. First there was that man trying to worm his way into a job without going through the proper channels, Miss Lavorre is wanting another bathroom renovation and for him to close the Chateau before they’ve barely even opened. He’d just finished all of the opening duties and now she and that group of hooligans that the young Miss Lavorre call friends went charging through the front of house dining like the upstairs was on fire yelling for everyone to get out. He’s trying to rush through the closing duties when Bluud comes thundering down the stairs. 

Bluud is holding two packs. “We gotta go, now!”

“I. Am. Not. Finished. Closing,” Carlos bites out through clenched teeth trying to stay focused on counting down the register.

“Lock it up and go, we have powerful mages on their way here to do Avandra knows what to Melora knows who!”

Carlos hears the fear in Bluud’s voice and pauses. Looking up, he sees genuine concern in the minotaur’s face. He sighs, dumps the entire tip jar and the whole register’s worth of money into a bag and throws it to Bluud. He scoops the bread and cheeses already prepared for the evening into another bag, pulls out his key ring.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me, where do we go?” 

Bluud nods with a grin. “I’ve got a place.”

They rush out the front door and Carlos locks up. As they both turn around, on the lookout for strangers taking an interest, a familiar bark is all the warning they get before Nugget appears in front of them, panting. 

Bluud grunts. “The Brenattos were with them when they ran. There probably wasn’t time for this one.”

Carlos nods. “Best keep him safe until we know more, eh?”

Bluud pats Nugget on the head. “C’mon you. We’re going on an adventure.”


	5. Nugget Causes Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @/theiridescentflame says: i would love for him to blink into yussas tower (where everything is fine and not destroyed), where he is an adorable chaos enforcer. i hope im doing this right, such lovely idea!

Nugget had been wandering around the entire Open Quay sniffing for any sign of his people. He keeps losing the scent and having to pick it back up again. Eventually he does find it and picks up his pace. It stops at a tower. He circles the tower but doesn’t find an In. He tries going the other way, but still no luck. He sits on his haunches and whines. 

He circles again, until he finds the spot where the scent is strongest and blinks into the tower. Reappearing inside, he follows the scent of his people into a room where a person is sleeping. He trots over to them and noses at their hand. No response. He blinks on top of them and they just lay there. Nugget barks and there isn’t a response. 

Tilting his head to the side, he stares in confusion at the Not Dead Not Awake. He hops down and sniffs around the room following the fainter scent of his humans higher up the stairs. As he climbs, the scent of dinner cooking distracts him and he comes to a closed door. Behind it are the smells so yummy he immediately blinks to the other side of the door.

Wensforth was not having a good day. It’s always interesting when the master does his little trips. It’s always interesting when the Mighty Nein show up. But today brought levels of “interesting” that his poor heart couldn’t take. He’s in the process of murmuring to himself about needing a vacation and cooking some comfort food when a massive dog appears in the kitchen next to him and barks. 

Yelping in fear he chucks the ladle across the room, splattering the walls with soup. The dog barks again and chases the spoon and drops it at his feet, looking up expectantly. 

Hand clutched to his chest, Wensforth stares at the dog. The dog nudges the spoon closer with his nose and bows, tail wagging in the air. With shaking hands, he picks up the spoon again and throws it. The dog takes off with a joyful yelp and brings the spoon back. Slowly, Wensforth’s heart gets back to a normal rate and he throws the spoon out in the hallway and it clatters down the stairs a bit. 

The dog takes off directly for the wall and at the last second, blinks through it. 

Wensforth yelps again and has to sit down.


End file.
